Drug dogs find tablets

POLICE drug sniffer dogs helped find a man with 15 MDMA pills in his pocket before he boarded a Gold Coast cruise at the weekend, a court has been told.

Christopher Hunt, 25, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday to drug possession.

Police prosecutor Caitlin Usher told the court police found Hunt in possession of 15 “red star-shaped tablets” before he boarded a cruise from Marina Mirage on Saturday.

Ms Usher said Hunt was observed trying to avoid the drug sniffer dogs.

He told police they were for personal use.

Magistrate John Costanzo said Hunt was caught with “15 potential killers”.

Mr Costanzo

$1200. fined Hunt A FORMER Palazzo Versace worker bashed a man so badly he needed three metal plates inserted in his skull.

Then, while on bail for that assault, he robbed a woman and stomped on her head.

Numen Yarrie (right), 37, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court to grevious bodily harm and robbery with actual violence for the separate offences in July 2016 and Oc- tober 2017.

Judge Katherine McGinness said Yarrie’s actions were “cowardly and vicious” and sentenced him to seven years in jail with a parole eligibility in January, 2021. Yarrie was represented by two barristers, instructed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service and Legal Aid.

Yarrie’s first offence related to the bashing of a homeless man, Robert Bawden, aged in his 70s, in Surfers Paradise.

His co-accused, Noal Peter Montemayor-Mabb, was sentenced to six years in prison.

The pair punched Bawden in the head and neck more than 20 times before Yarrie kicked him. Surgeons had to insert metal plates in Mr Bawden’s skull. The second offence was the violent robbery of a woman, 51. Yarrie stomped on her head and stole $800.

Barrister Daniel Cole submitted a report that Yarrie was likely to have foetal alcohol syndrome disorder. Yarrie worked as a housekeeper at Palazzo Versace but was homeless and affected by alcohol or drugs at the time of the offences.